NFL Thursday Night Football (Nov. 29) Preview: Cowboys Vs. Saints – Time Start, Channel, Stats, Players To Watch

“They’re going to have to match our intensity,” Dallas Cowboys (6-5) defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence said ahead of the pivotal Thursday night matchup against the New Orleans Saints (10-1) in Dallas. The two teams are rolling at the right times and are in comfortable control of their respective division leads, although the Saints look like the NFL’s most unstoppable offense. Lawrence is assured that the Saints’ coveted offense is going to have to go through him and the rest of the Cowboys’ defense.

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“S—, for 60 minutes straight. If you hit a m—f— in the mouth and then they ain’t doing what they’re regularly doing, putting up 50 points, they start to get a little distressed,” said Lawrence after a question about the Saints’ offensive line. “Now you got them where you want them at, and then you f—ing choke their a— out.” Other players weren’t as impassioned, but remained realistic about what lay ahead.

“We’re getting an opportunity to show what we’re about on a really big stage,” linebacker Jaylon Smith said. “Make sure we stay true to ourselves, know who we are.”

The intensity Lawrence referred to is a mainstay of a revamped Cowboys defense, headlined by rookie sensation linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, who was named NFL Rookie of the Month for November. Cowboys defensive coordinator Todd Marinelli knows the challenge ahead is the most formidable of the season, but is taking a more minimal approach with his scheme.

“We’ve got to make the complex simple for them,” Marinelli said of the game plan for the 11 defenders. “The irregular regular, and once that happens they can play with speed. Because that’s our weapon — our speed and our athleticism.”

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The speed and athleticism will certainly meet its match with the Saints’ all-time collective. No team averages more points than the Saints (37.2), and they are fifth in yards per game at 416.6, all due in part to the excellence of 39-year-old Drew Brees, his go-to wideout Michael Thomas and the league’s best running back duo of Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram II. 

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Brees ranks third in the NFL with 29 touchdown passes, while his 76.4 completion percentage ranks first. It’s a luxury Brees can enjoy due to the dominant pass catching and play-making abilities of Thomas, who ranks fifth in the NFL in receptions with 86, raking up 1,080 yards and eight touchdowns in the process. Meanwhile, Kamara has 57 catches for 519 yards and four touchdowns.

Kamarra is also 11th in the league in the rushing category with 706 yards, and second in the NFL in rushing touchdowns with 11. Ingram, his counterpart, has 440 rushing yards and four touchdowns to support after missing the first four games of the season. These gaudy, almost video game-like numbers are all elements that the Cowboys defense will struggle to regulate, no matter how rabid its intensity might be.

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The game kicks off at 8:20 p.m. EST at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas and will air on Amazon Prime, FOX and NFL Network.

Article by Red Young